Kristen

He took our place in judgment so we could stand in grace. He embraced the cross so we could embrace righteousness. What He suffered outwardly reveals what He accomplished inwardly, restoring us to God and breaking the power of sin over our lives. “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5

From Artemis II. Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

As we approach Easter weekend, remember the gospel message. Jesus Christ lived the perfect life we cannot live and died the death that we deserve. He took on the wrath of God on our behalf so that by believing in Him, we now can be saved and have eternal life. It isn’t our works that save us. It isn’t our church that saves us. It isn’t being immersed in water or taking communion that saves us. It is by having faith in Jesus Christ that saves us. His blood shed on our behalf is what saves us. Being born again by the Holy Spirit and made new is what saves us. Repent of your sins & believe in Him today! “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” Ephesians 2:8

Horrific. We do not take child sexual abuse seriously enough in this country

“Others, as they have earth in their ears, so they have a stone in their hearts. ‘They make their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law’ (Zech. 7:12). “The ministers of Christ therefore must be frequently brandishing the sword of the Spirit and striking at men’s sins, that, if possible, they may at last pierce the heart of stone. “When the earth is scorched with the sun, it is so hard and crusted together, that a shower of rain will not soften it. There must be shower after shower before it will be either moist or fertile. Such an hardened piece is the heart of man naturally. “It is so stiffened with the scorchings of lust, that there must be precept upon precept (Isa. 28:10). Our doctrine must ‘distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass’ (Deut. 32:2).” — Thomas Watson

I'm going to keep posting this Alstair Begg clip "The Man on the Middle Cross" (less than four minutes in length) every Holy Week, because its message is true in 2026, it will be true in 2036 and it will be true in 3036. "If i take my eyes off the cross, I can then give only lip service to its efficacy while at the same time living as if my salvation depends upon me. And as soon as you go there it will lead you either to abject despair or a horrible kind of arrogance. And it is only the cross of Christ that deals both with the dreadful depths of despair and the pretentious arrogance of the pride of man that says you know, I can figure this out."

In the autumn of 1942, a slight, 32-year-old Polish social worker named Irena Sendler passed through the gates of the Warsaw Ghetto with a carpenter’s toolbox in her arms. Beneath the hammers and nails lay a drugged six-month-old infant, breathing softly, utterly silent. One cry would have meant instant death for both of them. Irena smiled at the guards; they waved her through. They never suspected that this quiet woman would repeat the journey 2,499 more times. The ghetto was a slow-motion extermination. Starvation, disease, and random murder stalked every street. Jewish parents faced a choice no human being should ever have to make: keep their child and watch them waste away, or hand them to a stranger who promised a chance—however thin—at life. Irena came officially to inspect for typhus. In reality, she came to steal children from death. Babies left in toolboxes or ambulances under false bottoms. Toddlers sedated and tucked into potato sacks. Older children led by the hand through the stinking, lightless sewers while German boots marched overhead. “Not a sound,” she whispered as rats scurried past their feet. She knew that the rescued children would be given new names, new religions, new families. Their pasts would vanish unless someone remembered. So, on fragile scraps of tissue paper, Irena wrote each child’s real name, their parents’ names, and their new hiding place. She rolled the papers tight, slipped them into glass jars, and buried them beneath an apple tree in a neighbor’s garden. If she were caught and killed, the truth might still survive. She was caught. On October 20, 1943, the Gestapo kicked in her door. They took her to Pawiak Prison and demanded the list. When she refused, they smashed both her legs with iron bars. Then her feet. Then her arms. For weeks the beatings continued. She never spoke. They scheduled her execution. On the appointed morning, guards dragged the broken woman from her cell. Instead of a firing squad, she found herself outside the prison walls—alive. The Polish underground council Żegota had bribed a guard to mark her file “shot while trying to escape.” Officially dead, Irena Sendler limped back into the shadows to keep working.When the war finally ended, the first thing she did was dig up the jars under the apple tree. She spent years trying to return the children—now scattered across convents, farms, and foster homes—to whatever family might remain. Almost no parents had survived. But the children had. Because of her, 2,500 Jewish boys and girls lived to grow up, to marry, to have children and grandchildren of their own—an entire secret branch of the human family tree that the Nazis never managed to cut down.For decades her story stayed buried deeper than the jars themselves. Then, in 1999, four high-school girls in rural Kansas stumbled across a brief mention of her name. They found the old woman still living quietly in Warsaw and brought her courage back into the light. Journalists called her the greatest rescuer of the Holocaust. Irena only shook her head.“I could have saved more,” she said. “That regret follows me to the grave.”Irena Sendler—armed with nothing but a ghetto work permit, a toolbox, and a refusal to look away—proved that even in the heart of the worst evil humanity has ever devised, one determined person can still keep the darkness from winning completely.

The parable of the 10 virgins- practical application As we watch for Jesus returns how do we stay ready and occupy and redeem the time? In the Bible, keeping your lamp trimmed and filled (Matthew 25:1-13) symbolizes maintaining a ready, spirit-filled life for Christ’s return. This requires daily dedication to prayer, studying Scripture, repentance, and actively nurturing faith to keep the "oil" (Holy Spirit) full and the "wick" (life) clean and bright.   1. Keep Your Lamp Filled with Oil (The Holy Spirit)  Daily Devotion: Consistently spend time in prayer and reading the Word, allowing the Holy Spirit to fill you (Ephesians 5:18). Active Obedience: Serve others and live in repentance to keep the flow of grace, rather than letting your love grow cold. Personal Responsibility: Oil cannot be borrowed. You must cultivate your own personal relationship with God (Matthew 25:9). Fellowship: Gather with other believers to strengthen your faith (Hebrews 10:24-25).  2. Keep Your wick trimmed Remove "Charred" Parts: The charred wick creates smoke instead of light. This represents removing sin, pride, and selfish desires through repentance and confession. Focus Your Vision: Keep your focus on Christ's glory; this "trims" the inner being to allow a clear, steady light, ensuring the flame is bright. Manage Your Focus: A high, unruly wick burns oil too fast. A "trimmed" life is controlled, avoiding the "high" of arrogance to produce a consistent testimony.  The Lamp: Represents your life, testimony, and witness (often within ministry). The Oil: Symbolizes the Holy Spirit, grace, and inner life of God in the believer. The Wick: Symbolizes the human spirit or heart.  Ultimately, the parable of the ten virgins highlights the need for continuous readiness, maintaining both the internal reservoir of the Spirit and the external purity of life, to remain ready at all times.

Non timebo mala — “I will fear no evil.”

How to avoid catching brain rot: 1. Read your Bible more than you scroll. 2. Test every voice, and discern whether what they say lines up with scripture or not. 3. Remember, truth is consistent, character-filled, and rooted in Christ. 4. Stop following people who say “Christ is King”, but fail to exhibit any Fruit of the Spirit. 5. Stay grounded in the local church. 6. Renew your mind daily. Romans 12:2

Artemis II will lift off tomorrow, fly around the moon and return safely back to earth. It starts with the six engines producing 8.8 million pounds of thrust and ends with a splashdown off the coast of California and a ship recovering the astronauts and capsule. Here’s an animation of many of the dynamic and exciting steps that happen in between!

"We need Jesus - whether on Earth or circling the Moon." -- Victor Glover, Pilot of Artemis II

No idea how I, of all people, became the poster child of "have more kids than you can afford" when financial voices like @DaveRamsey have been repeating this same concept for years... but I'll wear it like a badge of honor. "The media has told people that kids are SO expensive... they're not *that* expensive," says Dave here to one of his callers. PLUS... did you know one recent study says having kids increases your lifetime wealth by 23%? Turns out, having kids is one of the BEST ways to AVOID poverty, if you're motivated by it. Sorry, Sunny Hostin & @TheView -- I know that really debunks your whole "Isabel wants people in poverty forever" thing from yesterday.

Missionary Judd Saul shared this warning: What is playing out in Nigeria right now could be what would plays out in America 30 years from now... To acknowledge how Islam has conquered every nation it's touched, it hasn't been by voluntary conversion. It has been done by the sword. It is not in their religion to assimilate to a culture in an area that you move into. You are commanded to dominate that culture and make everybody submit to you. For people to say, 'There's a mosque going up in my backyard, let's celebrate it.' No, no, no. That is a sign of them conquering your territory. That is how they view it. If they have a minority population, they have to be nice, play nice, and be quiet. But once they reach that threshold, the political threshold, is when the violence occurs. I get the same story from survivors in Nigeria. They say the Fulani moved in, our kids played together, we did business together. Everything was fine until the one day where even their neighbors partook in the attacks and then stole their property and took everything they had. Fulani have a saying in Nigeria, 'Treat the Christian like a pet chicken. You raise the chicken, you feed the chicken, you pet the chicken, love the chicken until it's time to chop off its head.'

@LilaGraceRose I’m so sorry this happened to you. I’ve had 3 and it’s all so incredibly difficult. A friend shared this story about Fanny Crosby and now I’m listening to this youtu.be/hvEnKT1XlIM?si…. Praying for you and your family.

I wanted to share an update, because some of you have been asking. Two weeks ago, Joe and I found out we were pregnant. We were thrilled and so grateful for the generosity of God. A week ago, the day of our Young Leaders Summit, I started having miscarriage symptoms and had to leave the event early. I was really touched when many of you reached out and shared you were praying for me and baby. We did lose our little baby. Along with the sadness, we feel comforted and at peace knowing he is in Heaven. We are so grateful to have had him with us for a short time and that we will be reunited one day. God’s love and will are perfect, and mysterious at times. I know He has a plan and we trust in Him. Thank you for the prayers 🙏

It’s Easter Week. The most important week in history! Don’t let people bog you down with a-historical silliness in the midst of focusing on what it’s all about. See the graphic here static1.squarespace.com/static/5a21fbb…

Already there are more Christians in China than there are members of the Communist Party.

The Artemis II astronauts are bringing this plush toy to their moon mission. Its name is Rise. It was chosen from a contest of 26,000 entries. It’ll be used as an indicator of when the astronauts have left earth’s gravity. There’s space history behind its design—and it’s cute!